Automatically adjusting brake



May 1, 1951 W. H- DU BOIS AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTING BRAKE Original Filed Feb. 8, 1946 JNVENTOR. W/A Z/AW #005045 BY yyfii ATTORNEY Patented May l, 1951 AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTING BRAKE William H. Du Bois, South Bend, Ind., assignor to Bendix Aviation Corporation, South Bend, Ind., a corporation of Delaware Original application February 8, 1946, Serial No. 646,247. Divided and this application January 21, 1949, Serial No. 71,891

8 Claims. 1

This application is a division of application Serial No. 646,247, filed February 8, 1946.

The invention relates to automatically adjusting brakes, and is primarily concerned with automatically operating adjusting means for. disk brakes, although the principles of the invention may be applied to a wider range of brakes and also to other types of friction device. The general object of the invention is to provide a disk brake automatic adjustment improved over previous automatic adjustments both as to efi'iciency of operation and as to simplicity of structure.

In disk brakes the compressive force against the interleaved friction disks of the brake is usually applied through an end disk termed the pressure plate. This plate has the maximum axial movement, and adjustment of the released position of this plate sufiices as an adjustment for the brake as a Whole. The position of a member which limits the retraction of the pressure plate may therefore serve to control the adjustment of the brake. By permitting movement of such a retraction-limiting member in only one direction, it is possible to provide an automatically adjusting brake. Additional provision is required to insure suitable brake clearance in released position.

One object of the present invention is to control the automatic adjustment by means of .a simple frictional clamping device which determines the released position of the pressure plate. Such a frictional clamping device constitutes a positive but not immovable connection between the retraction-limiting member and a fixed part of the brake assembly. Although the frictional clamping device resists relative movement of the retraction-limiting device in both directions, its movements are uni-directional because the urge to move in one direction is provided by the relatively light return spring force, whereas the urge to move in the opposite direction is provided by the relatively heavy applying force developed in actuating the brake.

Heretofore it has been customary to locate the brake return springs between the pressure plate and the opposite side of the disk brake assembly. With such an arrangement, as the position of the pressure plate is progressively adjusted to compensate for brake wear, the initial compressive force of the return springs is increased. This means that a greater initial applying force must be exerted on a partially worn and adjusted brake than on a newly-lined and unadjusted brake. Therefore, although the adjustment conserves pedal travel, it raises the pressure required to force the disks into frictional contact. a

It is an object of the present invention to provide a combined automatic adjustment and return spring assembly which will retain the length and force of the return spring substanvention will become apparent during the course of the following description, reference being'had therein to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical section taken through'a disk brake assembly incorporating my invention; and

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view providing a close-up of the automatic adjusting meansof Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 1, a brake carrier I 2, which is secured to the'non-rotating axle l4, constitutes.

a fixed member of the brake assembly. The illustrated brake is intended particularly for use on airplanes, and therefore the axle I4 is illustrated as a non-rotating member. If the brake were. used in conjunction with a rotating axle, the carrier l2 would be secured to a nonrotating member or part of the vehicle. The carrier 12 has an outwardly extending thickened flange. I6 within which is provided a chamber l8 having an annular reciprocable piston 20 and a suitable annular seal 22. Introduction of fluid into chamber l8 from a suitable source of pressure causes piston 20 to move toward the right to apply the brake.

A backing plate 24 is rigidly secured to brake carrier I2 by means of a plurality of circumfer- Thus;

entially spaced axially extending bolts 26. the flange lb of the brake carrier and backing plate 24 constitute the fixed end members of the brake assembly, and are neither rotatable nor axially movable.

In the illustrated disk brake arrangement, there are four rotor disks 28 which are driven.

by a plurality of circumferentially spaced axially extending keys 30 carried bythe wheel 32. As

In other words, the length of the,

3 sembled in interleaved arrangement with the rotor disks 28 are three stator disks 34, which are prevented from rotating movement because they engage the sleeves 36 carried by the anchor bolts 26, but which are capable of axial movement along the length of said anchor bolts. It will, of course, be appreciated that the principles of the present invention are applicable regardless of the number of rotor and stator disks used in the brake assembly. The invention has equal merit in a brake having one rotor and in a brake having several rotors. However, the brake shown in Figure 1 is an excellent example of the relatively small diameter, but wide, brake construction which is coming into extensive use. the large number of rotor and stator disks being required to obtain the necessary wheel-retarding friction.

Application of pressure to urge the rotating and non-rotating disks into frictional engagement is accomplished by movement of piston 20 under the pressure of fluid in chamber I8, the piston acting on the brake through a movable end plate 38 which is generally termed the pressure plate.

Suitable friction linings 39 are provided for the brake members, the linings being illustrated as carried by the three stator disks 34, by pressure plate 38, and by backing plate 24. The linings are secured to the respective plates by suitable fastening means, such as the rivets 40 illustrated in the upper portion of Figure 1.

As the linings 39 wear, the brake clearance increases, 1. e. the distance through which the piston 20 and pressure plate 38 must move before bringing the brake disks into engagement becomes greater, and this results in loss of effective pedal travel unless a suitable adjusting arrangement is provided for the brake assembly. Heretofore the adjustment has usually been accomplished manually, but it is one purpose of the present invention to provide an eflicient and yet simple automatic mechanism for adjusting the position of pressure plate 38, and thereby maintaining a substantially constant clearance in the brake. Incidentally, it will be appreciated that adjustment of the released position of pressure plate 38 brings about a change in the released position of piston 20, and additional fluid is maintained in chamber l8, the required additional fluid being obtained from the usual reservoir associated with the pressure producing device of the fluid system.

Heretofore the conventional arrangement has included a plurality of return springs compressed between backing plate 24 and pressure plate 38. These return springs serve to move pressure plate 38 to released position upon release of pressure in chamber [8. Any adjustment of pressure plate 38 has, in prior constructions, caused a reduction in the released position length of the return springs and therefore has involved an increase in the initial compressive force of the springs. Thus, application after adjustment has always required a greater initial pressure to overcome the return springs than application before adjustment.

' The present invention, in addition to providing automatically operable means for adjusting the brake, so associates the brake return springs with the adjusting means as to retain the same initial compressive force on the springs regardless of the amount of adjustment theretofore made, thereby enabling a given initial force to overcome the return springs throughout the adjustment range.

A plurality of circumferentially spaced axially extending pins or rods 42 are secured to the pressure plate 38, bushings 44 preferably being provided to receive the threaded ends 46 of the axially extending pins. Because the pins 42 are secured to the pressure plate 38, axial movement of the pressure plate is accompanied by axial movement of the pins, and furthermore, the released position of the pins determines the released position of the pressure plate. Associated with each axially extending pin 42 is an automatic adjustment mechanism which gradually changes the released position of pressure plate 38 as the brake linings wear. I prefer to provide a plurality of these automatic adjustment devices, spaced circumferentially around the brake assembly. I find it convenient to associate an automatic adjusting device with each return spring of the brake assembly, and, inasmuch as a sufficient number of return springs must be used to provide adequate retractin pressure on pressure plate 38, a number of automatic adjustors should be provided in each brake assembly. By way of example, a convenient number of springs and adjustors is twelve, spaced equally around the brake circumference.

Because each of the combined return-springand-automatic-adjustment devices is preferably identical with all the others, the following description of one of said devices will be considered as applicable to all of those required for a given brake assembly (attention is directed particularly to the enlarged view of one of such devices provided by Figure 2).

Means are provided for exerting frictional clamping force on each pin 42, thereby controlling the released position of pressure plate 38. The frictional clamping means may comprise a pair of axially split washers 48 and 50 which encircle the pin 42. The washers 48 and 50, which may be made of soft metal, are held in engagement with the pin 42 by means of interengaging threaded members 52 and 54. Member 52 has a frusto-conical surface 56 engaging a complementary frusto-conical surface on split washer 7 48, and member 54 has a frusto-conical surface 58 engaging a complementary frusto-conical surface on split washer 50. By turning down member 52 with respect to member 54, said members are drawn together axially, thereby exerting a force through the conical or tapered engaging surfaces to clamp the split washers 48 and 50 against the pin 42. The frictional force with which the washers grip the pin is controlled by the amount of relative axial movement of the members 52 and 54, and thus the amount of frictional gripping force may be adjusted by screwing the member 52 inwardly or outwardly with respect to the member 54.

A return sprin 88 is compressed between the surface 62 of carrier flange 16 and member 54. Thus the force of the return spring acts through the frictional clamping means and through pin 42 to urge pressure plate 38 and piston 20 toward the left, or, in other words, toward released or retracted position. The leftward movement of pin 42 under the influence of spring 60 is limited by the cap 64 screwed onto the left end of carrier flange l6, cap 64 acting as a stop member which is engaged by member 52 to limit the return movement of pin 42.

The operation of the combined return spring and automatic adjustment is as follows. When fluid pressure is applied against piston 20 to move pressure plate 38 toward the right and bring the brake disks into engagement, pin 42 moves with gamma pressure plate 38, and, because of the frictional connection between pin 42 and the elements 48,

58, 52 and 54, spring 60 is compressed as the pres-.

sure plate 38 and the pin 42 move on the pressure stroke. When the brake applying pressure against piston is removed, the several return springs 60 return the pressure plate 38 and piston 28 to released position, as determined by contact of member 52 with cap 64. This removes the pressure tending to cause engagement of the brake disks and releases the brake. Although the several friction disks are not individually returned to released position, any slight drag or friction between the disks causes them to disengage and permits the wheel to turn freely. As mentioned above, the present brake is intended primarily for airplane use, and any slight drag or friction in the brake which might result from the absence of individual return springs for each brake disk is of no practical significance. While the plane is in the air, the wheel, of course, is not turning, and it is therefore only during a relatively small percentage of the operating time of the plane that any frictional drag would be in effect.

If, during application of the brake, the spring 6| is compressed until it becomes solid, i. e., until the coils of the spring engage one another, further applying movement of piston 20 and pressure plate 38 will cause pin 42 to move axially relative to the friction clamping members 48 and 50, the latter members being limited in their rightward movement by the solid spring 60. After such relative movement has occurred between the in 42 and the frictional clamping device, release of the brake app y pressure and retraction of pressure plate 38 by the springs 60 will not bring said plate and piston 20 back to their original position, but will return them only until member 52 contacts stop member 64. Therefore, subsequent applications of the brake will not require an increased axial movement of piston 20, the running clearance being kept substantially constant by the automatic adjustment.

The running clearance for the brake may be provided by several methods. One of these methods is that shown in Figure 1, wherein the difference between the spring height at normal brake released position and its solid height equals the; brake clearance required. Figure 4 of application Serial No. 646,247 illustrates a brake in which a sleeve is provided between the pin and the spring, the sleeve being of such length that it equals the spring height at brake released position minus the running clearance required.

The running clearance of the brake is adjustable, due to the threaded connection between stop member or nut 64 and the carrier flange It. By turning the nut 64 to move it toward the right, the running clearance of the brake is diminished, whereas, by turning the nut 64 to move it toward the left, the running clearance of the brake is increased.

The frictional force between gripping members 48 and 58 and pin 42 must be suflicient to overcome the return spring effort at all times. An excessively strong grip on pin 42 is, however, undesirable because a greater applying pressure is then necessary to overcome this frictional force,-

and the brake efiiciency is thereby decreased. The ideal situation occurs when the grip of the friction device is just slightly greater than the return spring force.

Essentially, it is seen, a simple frictional c1amp-' ing device is prpyided to accomplish the {function of automatically adjusting the brake, the friction of said device being great enough to overcome the lighter force of the return spring, but insufficient to withstand the greater force of the brake applying pressure.

Because member 52 always returns to stop member 64 in released position, the initial length of spring 68 remains the same throughout the brake adjustment range. Pin 42 moves inwardly with respect to the friction clamping device and with respect to spring 60, but the position and length of spring remain the same. This means that the initial force required to overcome spring 60 will always be substantially the same, and that gradual adjustment of the brake to compensate for lining wear will not cause a build-up of the spring pressure. The importance and value of such an arrangement is obvious from a study of the structure illustrated in Figure 1, inasmuch as the total adjustment which must be made is so great as to have a very considerable effect on the spring force, if it is necessary to gradually compress the spring as the brake is ad-. justed; With an arrangement of the type .in which adjustment causes a gradual shortening of the spring, use of return springs having relatively high rates of pressure increase causes an excessive differential to be set up betweenthe initial force required in applying a newly-lined brake and the initial force required in applying a partially or fully adjusted brake. With my improved arrangement, the return springs have a working distance only slightly greater than the required running clearance, for example, approximately e% to inch, whereas with the prior constructions the springs had to be designed to function through a distance equal to the total lining wear of perhaps /2 inch or more.

Although a particular embodiment of my invention has been described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the object of the invention may be attained by the use of constructions different in certain respects from that disclosed without departing from the underlying principles of the invention.

I" claim:

1.- An automatically adjusting disk brake comprising two axially fixed and non-rotating members constituting the end members of the brake assembly, one or more axially movable rotor disks located between said fixed members, one or more axially movable stator disks also located between said fixed members and in interleaved arrangement with the rotor disks, one of said stator disks comprising a pressure plate through which brake applying pressure is exerted to compress the brake disks, said pressure plate being the disk closest one of said fixed end members, an axially extending pin secured to the pressure plate and extending through an opening provided surface of the other split washer, a return spring compressed between one of said threaded members and a surface of the aforementioned fixed member, and an adjustable stop member constituted by a nut threaded onto said fixed member, said nut engaging the other of said threaded members to limit the axial movement of the threaded members and split washers under the influence of the return spring, said threaded members being turned down to cause said split washers to exert a frictional clamping force on the aforementioned pin greater than the force required to compress the return spring.

2. In a disk brake comprising a fixed member and an axially movable pressure plate, a combined return spring and automatic adjuster comprising an axially extending pin secured to the pressure plate and extending through the adjacent fixed member, a split washer encircling said pin, means for exerting a force on said washer causing it to frictionally clamp the pin, a return spring compressed between said split washer and a surface of the aforementioned fixed member, and a stop member carried by said fixed member, said stop member limiting the axial movement of the split washer under the influence of the return spring, said force exerting means causing said split washer to exert a frictional clamping force on the aforementioned pin greater than the force required to compress the return spring.

3. An automatically adjusting disk brake comprising two axially fixed and non-rotating members constituting the end members of the brake assembly, one or more axially movable rotor disks located between said fixed members, one or more axially movable stator disks also' located between said fixed members and in interleaved arrangement with the rotor disks, one of said stator disks comprising a pressure plate through which brake app-lying pressure is exerted to compress the brake disks, said pressure plate being the disk nearest one of said fixed end members, an axially extending pin secured to the pressure plate and extending through an opening provided in the adjacent fixed member, a member frictionally gripping said pin, a return spring compressed between said gripping member and a surface of said fixed member, and a stop member carried by said fixed member, said stop member engagin said gripping member to limit the axial movement of the pin under the influence of the return spring, said gripping member being arranged to exert a frictional clamping force on the aforementioned pin greater than the force required to compress the return spring.

' 4. In a disk brake comprising a fixed member and an axially movable pressure plate, a combined return spring and automatic adjuster comprising an axially extending pin secured to the pressure plate and extending through the fixed member, a member frictionally gripping said pin, areturn spring compressed between said grippin member and a surface of said fixed member, and a stop member carried by said fixed member, said stop member limiting the axial movement of the gripping member under the influence of the return spring, said gripping member exerting a frictional clamping force on the aforementioned pin greater than the force required to compress the return spring.

5. In a disc brake comprising a fixed member and an axially movable pressure plate, a combined return spring and automatic adjustor comprising an axially extending pin secured to the pressure plate and extending through the adjacent fixed member, a split washer encircling said pin, means movable with said pin for exerting a force on said washer causing it to frictionally clamp the pin, a return spring: compressed between said means and a surface of the aforementioned fixed member, and a stop member carried by said fixed member, said stop member limiting the axial movement of the split washer under the influence of the return spring, said force exerting means causing said split washer to exert a frictional clamping force on the aforementioned pin greater than the force required to compress the return spring.

6. In a disc brake comprising a fixed member and an axially movable pressure plate, a combined return spring and automatic adjustor comprising an axially extending pin secured to the pressure plate and extending through the adjacent fixed member, a split washer encircling said pin, adjustable means for exerting a force on said washer causing it to frictionally clamp the pin, a return spring compressed between said adjustable means and a surface of the aforementioned fixed member, and a stop member carried by said fixed member, said stop member limiting the axial movement of the split washer under the influence of the reutrn spring, said force exerting means causing said split washer to exert a frictional clamping force on the aforementioned pin greater than the force required to compress the return spring.

'7. In a disc brake comprising a fixed member and an axially movable pressure plate, a combined return spring and automatic adjustor comprising an axially extending pin secured to the pressure plate and extending through the fixed member, a member friotionally gripping said pin, said gripping member being adjustable to determine the magnitude of grip on said pin, a return spring compressed between said gripping member and a surface of said fixed member, and a stop member carried by said fixed member, said stop member limiting the axial movement of the gripping member under the influence of the return spring, said gripping member exerting a frictional clamping force on the aforementioned pin greater than the force required to compress the return spring.

8. In a disc brake comprising a fixed member and an axially movable pressure plate, a combined return spring and automatic adjustor comprising an axially extending pin secured to the pressure plate and extending through the fixed member, a member movable with said pin and frictionally gripping said pin, said gripping member being adjustable to determine the magnitude of grip on said pin, a return spring compressed between said gripping member and a surface of said fixedvmember, and a stop member carried by said fixed member, said stop member limiting the axial movement of the gripping member under the influence of the return spring, said gripping member exerting a frictional clamping force on the aforementioned pin greater than the force required to compress the return spring.

WILLIAM H. DU BOIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Baird May 16, 1944 Bricker Jan. 15, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Switzerland June 21, 1904 Number 

